CORRELATION OF MEAN NUCLEAR-AREA WITH ESTROGEN-RECEPTOR CONTENT IN ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY OF BREAST-CARCINOMA

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 26  (4) , 417-421
Abstract
Thin needle aspirates of 42 consecutive human breast carcinomas were obtained at the time of excisional biopsy. Nuclear diameters of 100 cells from each case were measured, and the nuclear areas were calculated. The concomitantly acquired histologic sections were reviewed and assigned a histologic grade according to the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project protocol no. 4. Estrogen receptor (ER) content was analyzed by both the DCCA and SDGA techniques. The ER content of each case was compared to both the mean nuclear area of the cells on the cytologic smears and the histologic grade. All 16 cases with mean nuclear areas of < 60 .mu.m2 contained significant levels of ER (> 10 fmol/mg protein), as did 6 of 11 cases with nuclei between 60-90 sq .mu.m. Only 5 of 15 cases with nuclei > 90 sq .mu.m contained significant ER levels. Comparison of the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of both techniques suggests that a quantitative assessment of nuclear area in cytologic thin needle aspirates correlates more closely with ER content than does histologic grading.